


Finding Your Soulmate is Sometimes Harder Than You Think

by Inuryuvr, LesDeuxCygnes



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: A/B/O verse, Alpha!Steve, Alternate universe!Steve, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Don't worry it'll be ok, Everyone Needs A Hug, Explicit sex later, F/M, FYI this story will focus mostly on Stony and Stucky with the other ships referenced coming in later, Happy Ending, Knotting, Lil bit of slow burn, M/M, Omega!Bucky, Other ships will be pretty minor fyi, Post CA:TWS, Soulmates AU, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, omega!Tony, pre-AOU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-12 00:32:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4458470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inuryuvr/pseuds/Inuryuvr, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesDeuxCygnes/pseuds/LesDeuxCygnes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And it hit him: Steve smelled right, and almost perfect, and Tony's knees had gone weak a little with the combination of elation flooding his senses as well as the bone-sagging relief that he wasn't alone. He had found his mate.<br/>All Tony had to do was seduce Steve, properly seduce him, and then he would stop wearing his own scent suppressants around Steve and let things progress naturally from there.<br/>Tony hadn't counted on Steve having a mate that was anyone else.</p><p> </p><p>Or, the story of how Tony Stark fell in love with the wrong Steve Rogers, and accidentally came across the right one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Your Soulmate is Sometimes Harder Than You Think

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hello, everyone! This is an rp a dear friend of mine are doing, which I've decided to convert into a fic because reasons. Mind, this is entirely unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> Apologies in advance. 
> 
> FYI, this story WILL involve both Stony and Stucky, but it will NOT be a threesome. If that isn't your thing, please feel free to move along, duckies. <3
> 
> Enjoy!

The helicarriers had fallen, and with it, SHIELD. Tony hadn't been surprised when the news came, and for once he hated being right pretty much all the time. He’d watched the breaking news coverage from his lab in New York, the way he had every update he could find on what was going on with Steve’s solo mission in D.C.

Steve had come home, safely revived after the Winter Soldier had saved him from drowning, but it was blatantly obvious to Tony that the spark they had shared was long fizzled out; on Steve's end, anyway.

It had probably died the moment Steve recognized Bucky that day on the bridge.

And it wasn’t so bad; they had only been on the one date, preceded by the light teasing and eventual flirting once both their egos had relaxed around one another and they’d both let the other in enough to realize they’d been Very Wrong in their first, snap judgements of the other. The day Steve had got the call from Fury to go to D.C. for that damned mission was the day of their impromptu date, with tenuous plans for another after Steve’s return.

It was a little harder for Tony to let go, what with Steve being his mate and basically the best alpha anyone could ever ask for.

But, as it turned out, Tony wasn't Steve's mate. Steve had already found his mate, back when he was eight years old in an alley in Brooklyn. With the realisation that Bucky was alive, it was only natural for him to want to have that bond back.

Tony didn't blame him, but he would be a liar if he didn't resent the fact that yet again, the universe decided he just wasn't supposed to have nice things.

Tony had never really put much stock into the whole "soulmates" thing, despite the fact that his parents had apparently been perfect for each other and it was much more common than not to find your soulmate before it was too late.

But an incomplete half-bond?

That was certainly rare, and Tony hadn't ever really thought his soul wasn't good enough to have a match until the day he realised Pepper looked at Happy the same way his mother used to look at his father. That was the day Tony realised that maybe he really was meant to be alone after all, even with the desire to find that perfect scent itching somewhere behind his ribs like a restless, wild thing.

Pepper had been the only person he'd ever met who was both romantically interested in him and willing to put up with his shit long enough for Tony's walls to come down. Who the hell else would have that kind of saintly patience and a sharp tongue when he needed it most?

But then Tony had met Steve, really got to know him, and hope blossomed in his chest with each new side of Steve he uncovered.

Then, one day, Tony had made the mistake of getting too close to Steve right after his shower, before he'd had a chance to put any kind of scent suppressant on.

And it hit him: Steve smelled right, and almost perfect, and Tony's knees had gone weak a little with the combination of elation flooding his senses as well as the bone-sagging relief that _he wasn't alone._

He had found his mate.

All Tony had to do was seduce Steve, properly seduce him, and then he would stop wearing his own scent suppressants around Steve and let things progress naturally from there.

Tony hadn't counted on Steve having a mate that was anyone else.

In retrospect, it was probably a good thing that Tony hadn't had a chance to tell Steve before he'd left on that damn mission. It saved him from seeing Steve be guilt-ridden and torn between his mate and the guy he'd just admitted to wanting to date.

From having to let Tony down as easy as he could, knowing that he might have been Tony’s mate, but Tony wasn’t his.

It didn't make the knife in Tony's heart any smaller, though.

Tony dealt with the rejection in the best way for everyone: he pretended it didn't matter, that sure, he was interested, but he wasn't in very deep and it was easy to transition back to just being Steve's friend. It was what Steve needed, and Tony could give that to him. Tony was there to listen to Steve talk about Bucky whenever he needed to, and used his extensive list of contacts to help Steve and Sam hunt down the man who was half Soviet Assassin and half childhood best friend and former lover.

Tony just thought he'd have more time to adjust before the Winter Soldier himself appeared at the Tower's doorstep, tersely demanding to see Steve Rogers two months after the failure of Project Insight.

Despite all the things Tony had learned about Bucky Barnes from Steve, he didn't find out Bucky was an omega until he was standing in front of Tony, jacket hood pulled up to cover his face and the beginnings of lighter shadows in sunken grey eyes whenever Steve's name was mentioned.

Tony had quickly summoned Steve to the main floor, staying with Bucky only long enough for Steve to arrive before he made his exit to the deepest lab in the Tower. He didn't need to see their reunion for himself; Tony had more than enough salt to rub into his wounds already.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoo! Let me know what you think, please, and whether you'd like to see more. Short intro chapter, I know, but I felt that Bucky and Steve deserve to have their own chapter.


End file.
